Page 54 of Bully Alpha's Secret Baby

Protect her from herself. Easier said than done. Jade’s not the kind of woman who sits on the sidelines, and if I tell her to back off, she’s more likely to dive in headfirst just to prove a point. But I can’t let her get hurt. Not for this, not for anything.

“We’ll handle the demon,” I insist. “But I need you two to back me up. We need more muscle than any one of us has in our packs individually. We need all of us.”

Gary grunts his agreement, and Alec gives a sharp nod. “We’ve got your back, Damien,” Alec says. “We’ll work together on this one.”

We’re up against something big, something dangerous. But I’ve got my pack, and they’ve got me. Together, we’ll figure this out.

Now, I just need to make sure Jade doesn’t get herself killed in the process.

And that might be the hardest part of all.

Alec’s words stick with me the rest of the day, burrowing under my skin, settling into a place I don’t like to acknowledge.Protect her from herself.He’s right, and I hate it. Jade isn’t the kind of woman you can just tuck away for safekeeping. She’s got more fire in her than that, and I’ve never been the guy to put out that fire—hell, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t one of the things that drew me to her in the first place. But with demons lurking in our territory, it’s not just her fire I’m worried about. It’s what could burn her out before she realizes she’s too far gone.

By the time I get back to the cabin, my tension’s built into something physical, a knot in my chest that refuses to loosen. The minute I step inside, the normalcy hits me hard. Penny’s giggling in the living room, playing with her toys like nothing’s wrong, and for a second, I wish I could dive into that bubble. Pretend our biggest worry was picking up her scattered blocks and getting her to bed on time. But this is our reality, and my focus isn’t on playtime right now. It’s on Jade, and the fact that I haven’t seen her yet.

I toss my keys on the counter, listening for any hint of her. “Jade?”

“In here,” she calls.

I push the door to the bedroom open and find her sitting on the edge of the bed. There’s a spell book on her lap, but it’s closed. When she looks up at me, I can see it—the frustration she’s been trying to swallow, the exhaustion in the set of her shoulders.

“You’re back,” she says in a clipped tone. Not cold, but definitely not warm, either.

“Yeah,” I reply, stepping inside. “How are you feeling?”

“How am I feeling?” She snorts and tosses the book aside before she stands up and starts pacing a short, tight line in frontof the bed. “Like I’m locked up in a cage, Damien. That’s how I’m feeling.”

Here we go.

“You’ve been pushing yourself too hard,” I say. “You need to rest.”

“I’m a witch, Damien. A witch. I’m supposed to use my magic. I’m supposed to protect the people I care about. You know that, right? But here I am, stuck inside like some porcelain doll, waiting for what? The next attack?”

“You need to recharge,” I tell her, trying to keep my voice calm though the frustration is bubbling just under the surface. “You’re overworking your magic. You know that’s dangerous.”

“What’s dangerous is sitting here doing nothing,” she counters. “Damien, if something happens again and I’m not ready—if I can’t protect Penny—how the hell am I supposed to live with that?”

She’s voiced this concern before, and I still don’t have an answer for her. Not one she wants to hear, anyway. The truth is, I’m terrified, too. Terrified of losing her. Of watching her burn herself out while trying to protect everyone but herself. And if that means keeping her inside the cabin, safe, then yeah, I’ll do it.

“You won’t be able to protect her if you’re running on empty,” I say, taking a step toward her. “You think I’m doing this because I don’t trust you? I trust you, Jade. But you’re exhausted. You’re going to collapse, and where does that leave us?”

“I’m fine,” she insists, even though we both know she’s lying. Her hands are trembling, and the dark circles under her eyes tell me she hasn’t slept more than a few hours in days.“Damien, I need to get out of here. You can’t keep me locked away.”

“I’m not trying to lock you away! I’m trying to protect you. Do you think I want to see you like this? Do you think it’s easy for me to watch you push yourself to the point of breaking?”

She blinks, and her anger falters for just a moment. But then she crosses her arms over her chest and juts her chin out defiantly. “I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not the only one I’m worried about. I’ve got a whole pack to protect. And that includes you.”

Jade stares at me with her lips pressed into a thin line. For a second, I think she’s going to throw something, maybe that spell book, but she just lets out a frustrated breath and sits back down on the edge of the bed.

“This isn’t fair,” she says. “You get to go out and do what you need to do. But I’m stuck here, waiting. I’m not wired for this, Damien.”

“I know you’re not,” I acknowledge. “But we don’t have a choice right now.”

She doesn’t respond, just stares down at her hands. And as much as I hate to admit it, I know this isn’t just about Jade. The entire pack has been feeling the strain of the restrictions I’ve put in place since the attacks started. Hell, even Alec’s been hinting that people are starting to get restless.

As if on cue, there’s a knock on the door, and Alec walks in. “Sorry to interrupt,” he says, glancing between the two of us. “But we need to talk.”

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